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Miami Dolphins Talking Points: Sean Smith’s role in defense growing

Good teams make use of their assets, and Sean Smith is certainly one of the Dolphins’ better ones. The need to ramp up Smith’s role in the defense is where we start our Saturday talking points:

1. Sean Smith could play a big role next week against the Green Bay passing game.

QB Aaron Rodgers hasn’t got it firing on all cylinders yet, but the Packers’ pass offense is capable of great things. The Packers had five receivers catch 30 or more passes last season, and wide receiver Donald Driver and tight end Jermichael Finley are two of the best in the league at what they do.

Coach Tony Sparano said Smith played 38 plays against New England. While the Dolphins did only a so-so job against Tom Brady and the Patriots’ passing game, getting the athletic Smith involved going forward is a good thing. And he’s a handy insurance policy in case Jason Allen proves not to be the answer at corner.

2. Brandon Marshall has proven to be worth what the Dolphins paid for him so far.

It’s hard to complain about Marshall’s production through four games. He’s caught 27 passes, putting him on pace to surpass 100 receptions for the fourth straight season. His average of 12.6 yards per catch is right about where he’s been his whole career (12.3). If there’s one disappointment, it’s that he only has one touchdown after getting 10 last season, though his career average of just over six a year is still attainable.

(Marshall, by the way, will be on the set of CBS’ NFL Today Sunday between noon and 1 p.m.)

We’ve criticized Marshall in this space before and probably will again, but the fact is he hasn’t had a significant blowup with QB Chad Henne or Sparano so far and continues to make life easier for the other receivers on the field. Now he just has to play hard – unlike the last interception last week, when he quit on a route, leading to a Henne interception.

3. Patrick Cobbs is becoming the invisible man.

Explosiveness are elusiveness are what made the undersized Cobbs valuable, and when you go 5-foot-8, 205, you’d better have some qualities that allow you to avoid the big hits that pervade the NFL.

Cobbs appears to have lost some of that since tearing his ACL last year, and while Sparano showed his fondness for the former Texas prep star by making him captain of the special teams, it’s getting harder and harder to find a place for him in the offense.

He’s no longer returning kickoffs, that job having gone to rookie Nolan Carroll. He has only one carry this season, losing 6 yards on a poorly designed Wildcat play, and has caught no passes. With Ronnie Brown and Ricky Williams occupying the running back slots and Lousaka Polite taking the short-yardage and pass-blocking duties, it no longer seems there’s room for him in the offense.

Of course, Allen stuck around for four years due mostly to his special-teams skills. Cobbs will need to show the same to have a long-term future in Miami.